October 18, 2012 -
The City of Knoxville and the Greater Knoxville Tennis Association will hold a ribbon-cutting at 4:30 p.m. Monday, October 22nd, for the new West Hills Tennis Center clubhouse in West Hills Park.

Located at 410 N. Winston Road, the 1,400-square-foot building will house tennis programming, concessions, and long-requested public restrooms that include showers to accompany the park's 11 tennis courts.

"Besides its benefits to local tennis enthusiasts, this new facility is going to help us attract large tournaments to Knoxville, translating to significant tourism dollars for our area," said Mayor Madeline Rogero. "Between this new tennis center and the Tyson Family Tennis Center, we're putting Knoxville on the tennis map."

The City of Knoxville contributed more than $200,000 toward the clubhouse, while the Greater Knoxville Tennis Association raised $150,000. The building serves as Phase II of a long-term West Hills Tennis Center project.

Phase I, the renovation of the upper eight tennis courts, opened in November 2008. Phase III will increase the lower tennis court count from three to eight. In the meantime, the City has repainted the lower three courts for current use.

Between the first two phases, the West Hills Community Association gave $14,500 toward the GKTA-raised funds.

"We really owe the credit for this project's momentum to the GKTA," said Joe Walsh, Knoxville Parks and Recreation Director. "They approached us with the idea and then went on to raise $150,000 toward the clubhouse on their own."

Walsh also mentioned that the GKTA has already raised money for an observation tower for the tennis courts, which is slated for construction next spring.

Designed by Johnson Architecture, Inc., the new tennis clubhouse has both energy- and maintenance-saving features. Construction was administered by Venture Builders LLC.